The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-04-15

plate eools these letters, if letters they
be, seem to fade away. Suppose" he
added after a short pause, suppose we
heat the plate again and see if we can
learn what they really are
One of Mr.. Buffers apartments is
deliberately fitted up as chemical
laboratory. In corner of the room
there is a small furnace. It was the
work of a few minutes only to put some
charcoal into this and start fire. As
soon as this was done, the plate, face
downwards, was carefully laid over
the top of this furnace and we leaned
over it anxiously awaiting the result
In less than five minutes the brown
color had entirely disappeared and the
characters began to show themselves
as before. As the heat increased the
background on the plate grew clearer
until at length it was pure white.
Meanwhile the characters became more
and more distinct, until finally they
were indeed Japanese letters traced in
many lines of blue and circling the
plate like the signatures to a Ground
robin" All the available space on the
plate was thus filed.
To say that 1 was amazed at this met
amorphOsis would express my feelings
feebly. Butler, more calm, was pale
with excitement.
Take n sheet of paper" said he;
''sit down ut that desk and Twill trans
late this for you to write down. 1t is
in the classic or written language of
the japanese, and can read it
readily"
sat down as / was hidden, and he
proceeded to roughly translate from
this strangely discovered scroll, while
faithfully set down his words. This
is the story the plate told, precisely as
it was given to me that night and
copied verbatim from the notes made,
which are now lying before me on my
desk:
am TikipOtO, the son of Iyeyasu,
once the chief man in the town of Saga,
and this history is written so that my
children and my great-grand-children
may read and know of my great dis
covery. When my father reached the
middle age of life the great HideyOshi
impressed him into service. He
marched away with q million other
soldiers to conquer a great empire
across the sea. (This is evidently a
mistake, for the writer must allude to
the invasion of China, which took place
in 1892. There were only 10000 SOL
diers in the Japanese army, according
to history-B. NJ He never came
back. My elder brother took my
parents place, and was sent out into
the world to make my own living.
| Think you that easy, my children? l
may tell you it was not. 1 had had
my slaves and knew little about the
means of making money. had spent
my life in studies and in my pottery.
/ was a deep scholar in the art of max
| ing earthen wares-nOt the crude and
| purpOseless articles which are now so
common, but something greater and
| far more beautiful. When l found my
| self deprived of my fortune 1 turned to
my work with renewed interest. That
was my sole object in life. If my
studies should be successful / would
win both fame and wealth; if not,
/ could die. Who could do more? l had
pondered deeply over the mystery of
colors, their admixture and their prop
| critics. In these studies l had discOv-
cred new paint. That this discovery
| will produce n change i'm the art of
| decorating earthenware there can be
no doubt, for by means of it l can re
produce at will the pictures of nature
without the use of the artists pencil.
can place plate prepared with this
| discovery before an object, and its
| hnes-yes, even its colors-will appear
on the surface of the article. After
| this has been done the ware must be
heated and then further prepared when
| the picture will be visible, to remain so
until the end of the world. BY this
means landscapes and faces may be
| preserved with an accuracy our most
| skilled artists know nothing about.
| (Here the autobiography was suddenly
broken off. The writer was probably
| called away from his task and did not
resume it until some time later, how
long though can, of course, not be told.
-B. NJ
I have made other experiments with
my precious paint and propose on this
plate to show my first finished result.
Tomorrow l will complete it. (Here
follows another break in the narrative.
b. NJ
The time has slipped by so rapidly
| since / last was in my workshop that
one day has heightened into many
weeks. l have been too happy to work.
l have married. Finding that my work
was to be successful, l ventured to take
a wife. When 1 write of her my pen
becomes clumsy and my paint fades.
She is so beautiful and l love her SO
much. The sun shines only when she
is in my presence. find that l must
work more secretly. My great discov-
cry is suspected. / caught Corean
potter hanging around my house last
week, He asked many questions, but
was sent away without learning any
thing. l must work more carefully
though. must enclose my room more
tightly and proceed with more caution.
| (AnOther break here occurs.-B. NJ
Yesterday l discovered man hidden
under some clothes in one corner of the
room while l was at work l drove
him away with blows. The world must
not know of my discovery. l have
/ given life OF study TO 1t anu shall de-
fend the secret with my life.
If any one comes in tomorrow to in
terrupt me I shall kill him. will keep
my knife by my side while work Nc
one shall know what my great discov-
cry is. (This part of the history was
hurriedlv written and evidently hastily
composed. At times my friend hest
tated in his translation and certain
words were almost illegible. B. NJ
~ lo,- 4 f,,;-b tb, ,~,,,+ MI.